Raymond Delisle (11 March 1943 – 11 August 2013) was a French professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

. His sporting career began with ACBB Paris. He is the only rider to have won a stage of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...

on 14 July, France's national day, while wearing the jersey of national champion.L'Équipe, France, 15 July 2003 Born in Ancteville, Delisle started racing as an amateur in 1961 and won the Tour du Lac Leman classic in 1963 and the national team time-trial championship in 1964, with Jean Jourden. He turned professional in 1965. He rode 12 Tours de France between 1965 and 1977. He won two stages, one in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and one in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

. He wore the

Maillot Jaune The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

as leader of the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...

for two days after his stage win in 1976. His best placings were fourth in 1976 and ninth in 1977. He was national road champion in 1969. He retired in 1977 after 45 professional wins. He owned a hotel in Hébécrevon,

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Coutances Coutances () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History Capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town was given the name of ''Constantia'' in 298 during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus. ...

, in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

.Coups de Pédales, Belgium, November 2005 He had three sisters and it was on a women's bike too large for him that he began riding in the area around the farm. He studied to become a plumber but became an assistant-surveyor, a job which would let him ride to wherever he was working. He joined the local Periers-Sports club in 1959 and won his first race the following season. There were no races for young riders in Normandy and Delisle raced from the start against older and more experienced riders. In 1961 he won the national team time-trial championship at

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...

in a team that included Jean Jourden, who won that year's world road championship. Compulsory national service enrolled him at the barracks at

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitiba and Porto Alegre. Joinville is also a ...

to which many of France's top sportsmen were sent. He joined the AC Boulogne-Billancourt in the capital's north-western suburbs, a club which had supplied riders to the Peugeot professional team. Delisle came third in the 1963 Route de France, one of the country's biggest and hardest stage races. His ride brought selection for the national team in the

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independent ...

, a race for amateurs and semi-professionals which rode ahead of the Tour de France on its mountain stages. He finished third behind André Zimmerman and Rolf Maurer. In 1965 he joined the Peugeot team, recommended by Désiré Letort, a colleague in the AC Boulogne-Billancourt.

14 July victory

Delisle won the national championship on a wind-blown circuit at

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

in 1969 and on 28 June went to the start of the Tour de France in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th centur ...

. He wore not the white and black jersey of

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

-BP, his sponsor, but the blue, white and red of champion. Peugeot's leader was another Frenchman,

Roger Pingeon Roger Pingeon (; 28 August 1940 – 19 March 2017) was a professional road bicycle racer from France. Biography Growing up near the Jura Mountains, he was a cross-country skier as a teenager before taking up bicycle racing. He spent two year ...

. Pingeon had won the Tour in 1967 but he was anxious about getting through the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

in a position to match

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

, who had started dominating world cycling. Delisle said of 13 July, the eve of his victory: "Roger wanted me to stay at his side. I was willing to do that but not just as a domestique. I got away with Agostinho and Gandarias, and if you think that I didn't lift a finger to help them, you're right. But even so, Roger felt threatened and, when we were caught, he gave me a good talking-to (''un bon gifle''). That evening, I ate all alone, in a corner; you get the picture?" Delisle felt the only way to save his honour was to win a stage, and next day — France's national day – he attacked from the start. A British rider, Barry Hoban, went with him but dropped off on the col de Mente. Both Merckx and the Dutch rider, Jan Janssen, set off in chase but Delisle still had 23 seconds over Janssen when the stage finished at Luchon after 199 km. Delisle said: "Accounts had been settled and, that evening, Roger congratulated me. We became good friends and we never mentioned the incident again." At the finish, the television commentator,

Léon Zitrone Léon Zitrone (25 November 1914 – 25 November 1995) was a Russian-born French journalist and television presenter. Biography Zitrone was born in Petrograd, Russia. He arrived in France with his family fleeing communism at the age of six. He ...

, asked Delisle: "How are you, Rouget?" Delisle laughed and answered: "Yes, I am in Rouget de Lisle's will and I get royalties every time they play the

Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

. Delisle had won as national champion on 14 July and Zitrone had punned by referring to him not as Raymond but Rouget, Rouget de Lisle being the composer of the ''Marseillaise'', the national anthem.

Style

The writer Jean-Luc Gatellier said of Delisle that "he was a creative, a puncher-climber, a Manchot who didn't lack the legs to push big gears, sitting on the nose of his upward-pointing saddle. And, in fact, a rider impossible to categorise, neither a leader nor a team rider, but a man of July who mattered to the Tour de France."C'était un créatif, un puncheur-grimpeur, un Manchot qui ne manquait pas de jambes pour emmener de gros braquets, assis sur un bec de selle incliné. Et, en fin de compte, un coureur inclassable, ni leader ni équiper, mais un homme de juillet qui comptait pour-le-Tour de France.

Assessment

Arsène Maulave of the Belgian magazine, ''Coups de Pédale'', wrote: :We expected a new head of French cycling in 1970, Anquetil having retired, but he elislewasn't cut out to give orders, not having the soul of a leader. He had, of course, shown his talent. He had won soundly and intelligently, but he remained above all an exemplary team-mate for Pingeon and then for

Thévenet Thévenet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alizee Thévenet (born 1990), French financial analyst, fiancée of James Middleton * Bernard Thévenet (born 1948), French bicycle racer *Cécile Thévenet (1872–?), Belg ...

. Raymond belongs to the history of the famous team with the chequered band reference to the Peugeot team's jersey to which he often brought honour. Foreign teams solicited him, notably Italian ones, but he stayed loyal to Peugeot because he liked the atmosphere there.

Retirement

Delisle won the Polymultipliée and a criterium at Lescouet-Jugon in his last season, 1977. He also came ninth in the Tour de France and fifth in the season-long Prestige Pernod, forerunner of the World Cup. He had ridden 47,654 km and 250 stages in the Tour. He retired at the end of that season and began selling bicycles under his own name. He and his wife, Mireille, then bought a 16th-century manor house at Hébecrevon, which they ran as a hotel.

Major results

;1964 : national amateur team-trial championship (with Jean Jourden) ;1965 :Hénanbihen ;1966 :Brionne :Hyères :Lescouet-Jugon ;1967 :Munneville ;1968 :Poullalouen :Sizun :Saint-Brice-en-Coglès :Biot ;1969 :Antibes :Tour de l'Hérault :Saint-Brieuc : Polymultipliée : national road championship :

: ::Winner stage 16 :Le Mesnilbus :Patay ;1970 :Circuit des genêts verts :Commentry :Maël-Pestivien :Trophée d'Europe de la Montagne ;1971 :Camors ;1972 :Camors ;1973 :Jurançon :Nice ;1974 :

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

::Winner stage 10A ;1975 :Draguignan – Seillans :Henon : Genoa–Nice : Tour du Haut Var ;1976 :Putanges :Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise :Plessala :

: ::Winner stage 12 ::Wearing

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

for two days ::4th overall ::Winner combativity award ;1977 :

Trophée des Grimpeurs The Trophée des Grimpeurs, called Polymultipliée until 1970, was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Val-d'Oise, France, between Argenteuil and Sannois. Between 1980 and 2002 it was a criterium. Since 2005, th ...

: ::9th overall

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Raymond Delisle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delisle, Raymond 1943 births 2013 deaths French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners French Vuelta a España stage winners Sportspeople from Manche 2013 suicides Cyclists from Normandy